"An Epic Classic Right in Front of Us"

Mass Effect 3

Gameplay: 10/10I believe that ME3 has the best gameplay of any of the games in the series. It is a combination of everything that was good in the previous games and it got rid of the unneccesary parts. No more planet scanning for materials all of the time. You still have scanning that you do, but it is very limited, and is made more interesting because you are running from the Reapers in your ship at the same time, and if they catch you it is game over. The cover system is greatly improved in ME3. You can now roll in and out of cover, and for 360 owners the Kinect voice commands help control your squad mates without having to pause the action. Guns are customizable through mod additions as well squad mate outfits. There are a ton of sidequests in ME3 just like in the previous games and you never get bored. The multiplayer mode of ME3 was a nice surprise. I didn't care about this feature until I actually played it and found it to be somewhat addicting. It is all cooperative, and your success helps you in the single player campaign, even more of a reason to play it. The only gameplay flaws I have seen are a few freezes here and there, which pause the game momentarily.

Story: 10/10To put it simply, this series has some of the best writing for a game I have ever played. The universe is so perfectly crafted, and each race is unique and you actually can identify their different cultures throughout the games. This story starts with one goal: Stop the Reapers, the fun part is how are you going to do that, and what are you willing to risk to stop them? Some people have complained about the ending to the game, I will admit, it wasn't as spectacular as I had hoped, but I don't think it was bad either. Some people are penalizing the game for the ending and that is just sad, because regardless of the ending, this game is a masterpiece. One of the theories to explain the ending actually makes a lot of sense, and if true; it proves the genius writing behind this game. Bioware is even coming out and providing a free epilogue to the game, something I don't think most companies would do or should do for that matter. This just shows me how committed BioWare is to their fanbase.

Length: 9/10For a single playthrough you are probably looking at about 30-35 hours of playtime. Besides that you have multiplayer that will consume plenty of your time, as well as a new game+ function that allows you to play the game again while retaining most of your post game stats.

Visuals: 8/10The visuals aren't poor in ME3. Not at all, but the colors aren't as vibrant as in the other games in the series, a lot of the settings are dark, but that may be for a reason. ME3 really doesn't look that much different from ME2, which is one of the reasons I think ME3 should have been a next gen console game, but regardless the game still looks good.

Characters: 10/10This game and this series has some of the most memorable characters to date. Almost every one of the characters is voiced perfectly and is unique. The player begins to bond with certain characters very early in the series, and these relationships continue to grow throughout the games. Even your decisions affect whether some characters live or die, and this can weigh heavy on your decisions and outcomes throughout the series.

Sound/Music: 7/10 Nothing really new in this department. Typical ME music, it was good and soothing, just not anything new to focus on. Sound quality is great throughout the game.-----------------------------Pros--Fantastic gameplay--Amazing story to tie things up--Plenty of playtime--Characters that you will never forget, and mean a lot to you personally--Great voice acting-------------------------Cons--Ending isn't perfect--Visuals seem unchanged from Mass Effect 2--Music hasn't changed much--------------------------Overall this game is fantastic. This may be the greatest game I have ever played, regardless of the ending. I can't really decide which game I liked better between ME2 and ME3, but this series is one that shouldn't be missed by anyone who loves to play games. I think this is hands down the greatest series of our time.**10/10**